"Unprecedented" child migration in Latin America: UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued a warning on Wednesday, highlighting an "unprecedented" child migration crisis in the Latin America and Caribbean region. 

According to the UN agency's report, the Latin America and Caribbean region is currently facing one of the largest and most complex child migration crises globally.

Except for the year 2020, when border restrictions were imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of migrant children and those seeking shelter across the continent has been steadily increasing for the past ten years.

Despite the challenges posed by wildfires, poisonous snakes, and swamps, the Darien Gap, a dangerous rainforest region between Colombia and Panama, witnessed the passage of 133,000 individuals towards Panama in 2021, including 29,000 children. This number is equivalent to "five times the total number of children in the past four years combined," according to the report.

In 2022, the number of migrants nearly doubled, reaching 250,000 individuals, including 40,000 children.

In a historic record that raises concerns for UNICEF, over 40,000 children crossed the Darien Gap in the first half of 2023.

UN Regional Coordinator Gary Connell expressed his concerns, stating that "the region is under the grip of gang violence, instability, poverty, and climate change, forcing more children to leave their homes." 

He noted that migrants are increasingly "younger and younger" children, often unaccompanied and originating from multiple countries, including regions as distant as Africa and Asia, with their futures "threatened even if they reach their destination."

UNICEF called for more than $300 million in funding during 2023 to address this "unprecedented" crisis.

According to UNICEF, children make up 25 percent of migrants in the Latin America and Caribbean region, a high percentage comparable to that in sub-Saharan Africa, in contrast to the global average of about 13 percent.

Children under 11 years old represent 91 percent of migrant children in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Whether coming from South America, Africa, or Asia, most of these children aim to reach Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

The UN organization notes that the number of children apprehended by authorities at the southern U.S. border continues to rise steadily.

The primary migration flows of child migrants, as observed, are concentrated between Central America and Mexico, with movements of Haitians (who leave Haiti but also migrate to other countries in the region) and migration from Venezuela.


AFP